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Afua Cooper
Afua Cooper (born November 8, 1957) is a Jamaican-born Canadian academic, author, and dub poet. Life Born in Westmoreland, Jamaica, Cooper grew up in Kingston, Jamaica. She migrated to Toronto, Ontario in 1980. She holds a Ph.D. in African-Canadian history with specialties in slavery and abolition. Her dissertation, "Doing Battle in Freedom’s Cause", is a biographical study of Henry Bibb, a 19th century African-American abolitionist who lived and worked in Ontario. (She has also written children's books on Bibb and on poet Phillis Wheatley.) She also has expertise in women's history and New France studies. She has published 4 books of poetry, including Memories Have Tongue (1994), one of the finalists in the 1992 Casa de las Americas literary award. She is the co-author of We're Rooted Here and They Can't Pull Us Up: Essays in African Canadian women's history (1994), which won the Joseph Brant Award for history. She has also released 2 albums of her poetry. Her book The Hanging of Angelique (2006) tells the story of an enslaved African Marie-Joseph Angelique, who was executed in Montreal at a time when Quebec was under French colonial rule. Cooper lives in Toronto. Recognition Cooper is a winner of the Harry Jerome Award for professional excellence. Her novel The Hanging of Angelique was shortlisted for the 2006 Governor General's Literary Award for non-fiction. In 2018 she was appointed Poet Laureate of Halifax, Nova Scotia.Ryan McNutt, "A Civic Voice: Afua Cooper named new HRM poet laureate," Dalhousie News, April 26, 2018. Web, Mar. 10, 2019. Publications Poetry *''Breakin Chains''. Toronto: Weelahs, 1983. *''The Red Caterpillar On College Street''. Toronto: Sister Vision Press, 1989. *''Memories Have Tongue: Poetry. Toronto: Sister Vision Press, 1994. *''Utterances and Incantations: 12 female dub poets from the black diaspora. Toronto: Sister Vision Press, 1999. *''Copper Woman, and other poems.'' Toronto : Natural Heritage Books, 2006. Novel *''The Hanging of Angelique: The untold story of Canadian slavery and the burning of old Montréal.'' Toronto : HarperCollins, 2006. Non-fiction *"How I Found My Voice," in Caribbean Women Writers (edited by Selwyn Cudjoe). University of Massachusetts Press, 1991 *''We're Rooted Here and They Can't Pull Us Up: Essays in African Canadian women's history'' (by Peggy Bristow, Dionne Brand, Linda Carty, Afua Cooper, Sylvia P. Hamilton, & Adrienne Shad). University of Toronto Press, 1994.[ http://www.ourroots.ca/e/toc.aspx?id=8557 We're rooted here and they can't pull us up : essays in African Canadian Women's History], Our Roots / Nos Racines, University of Calgary / Universite Laval, Web, July 5, 2012. *"The Search for Mary Bibb, Black woman Teacher in Nineteenth-Century Canada West," '' Ontario History'' 83 (March 1991) 39-54. Reprinted in We Specialize in the Wholly Impossible: A reader in black women's history, (edited by Darlene Clark Hine), Carlson Publishing, 1995, 171-185. *"'Out of a Cardboard Box beside Our Bed like a Baby': The Founders of Sister Vision Press", in , eds." Great Dames (edited by Elspeth Cameron & Janice Dickin). University of Toronto Press, 1997, 291-306. * Utterances and Incantations: Women, poetry and dub. Toronto : Sister Vision Press, 1999. * The Underground Railroad: Next stop, Toronto! ''(by Adrienne L Shadd, Afua Cooper, & Karolyn Smardz Frost), Toronto, ON: Natural Heritage Books, 2002. '' Juvenile * My Name is Henry Bibb: A story of slavery and freedom. Toronto: Kids Can Press, 2009.Search results=Afua Cooper, WorldCat, Web, July 5, 2012. * My Name is Phillis Wheatley: A story of slavery and freedom. Toronto: Kids Can Press, 2009. Except where noted, bibliographical information courtesy the University of Toronto.Afua Cooper: Publications, Canadian Poetry Online, University of Toronto Libraries, UToronto.ca, Web, July 5, 2012.. Audio / video Discography *''WomanTalk: Women Dub Poets.'' Heartbeat Record, 1984. *''Sunshine.'' Maya Music, 1989. *''Poetry Is Not a Luxury''. Maya Music, 1990. *''Worlds of Fire (in Motion). Toronto: Soundmind Production, 2002. ''Except where noted, discographical information courtesy the University of Toronto. See also *Black Canadian poets *List of Canadian poets References Notes External links ;Poems *Afua Cooper at Canadian Poetry Online (profile & 7 poems) *Afua Cooper: Poetry ;Books *Afua Cooper at Amazon.com * ;About *Glossary of Canadian Poets * Afua Cooper in Gale Contemporary Black Biography *Afua Cooper Official website Category:1957 births Category:Living people Category:People from Westmoreland Parish Category:Canadian people of Jamaican descent Category:Canadian poets Category:Canadian historians Category:Black Canadian writers Category:Canadian reggae musicians Category:Canadian women writers Category:Musicians from Toronto Category:Jamaican dub poets Category:University of Toronto faculty Category:20th-century poets Category:20th-century women writers Category:21st-century poets Category:21st-century women writers Category:English-language poets Category:Poets Category:Performance poets Category:Women poets Category:Black Canadian poets